Anne Smedinghoff

A U.S. mission to deliver books to a school in Afghanistan that ended in the death of a young foreign service officer from River Forest was plagued by poor planning that “failed at all levels,” according to a scathing Army report obtained by the Tribune.

Anne Smedinghoff, 25, three U.S. soldiers and an interpreter died on April 6, 2013 when a suicide bomber’s car exploded outside the walls of a U.S. military base in Zabul province in southern Afghanistan.

The Army report for the first time criticizes civilian and military leaders for not following security protocols in the lead-up to the mission.

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A U.S. mission to deliver books to a school in Afghanistan that ended in the death of a young foreign service officer from River Forest was plagued by poor planning that “failed at all levels,” according to a scathing Army report obtained by the Tribune....

A U.S. mission to deliver books to a school in Afghanistan that ended in the death of a young foreign service officer from River Forest was plagued by poor planning that “failed at all levels,” according to a scathing Army report obtained by the...

KABUL, Afghanistan — One year after a 25-year-old diplomat from the Chicago area was killed in a car bombing in southern Afghanistan, the U.S. Embassy in Kabul remembered Anne Smedinghoff on Monday by reading poetry and releasing balloons in a courtyard...

She knew the risks, but Lexie Kamerman’s family and friends said the Chicago native would not be deterred from her goal: Helping young women in Afghanistan improve their lives through education.
"That's the wonderful thing about her. She had a sense of...

She knew the risks, but Lexie Kamerman’s family and friends said the Chicago native would not be deterred from her goal: Helping young women in Afghanistan improve their lives through education. "That's the wonderful thing about her. She had a sense of...

The children's books stamped with Anne Smedinghoff's name sat in cardboard boxes for several months in a River Forest church basement. First Presbyterian Church members collected the books days after the young diplomat died in Afghanistan. She was on...

In April 2013, a young U.S. diplomat, Anne Smedinghoff, 25, of River Forest, was killed with four other Americans when a bomb set off by the Taliban exploded as the group travelled to deliver textbooks for Afghani school children. As an assistant press...

In April 2013, a young U.S. diplomat, Anne Smedinghoff, 25, of River Forest, was killed with four other Americans when a bomb set off by the Taliban exploded as the group travelled to deliver textbooks for Afghani school children. As an assistant press...

In April 2013, a young U.S. diplomat, Anne Smedinghoff, 25, of River Forest, was killed with four other Americans when a bomb set off by the Taliban exploded as the group travelled to deliver textbooks for Afghani school children. As an assistant press...

In April 2013, a young U.S. diplomat, Anne Smedinghoff, 25, of River Forest, was killed with four other Americans when a bomb set off by the Taliban exploded as the group travelled to deliver textbooks for Afghani school children. As an assistant press...

In April 2013, a young U.S. diplomat, Anne Smedinghoff, 25, of River Forest, was killed with four other Americans when a bomb set off by the Taliban exploded as the group travelled to deliver textbooks for Afghani school children. As an assistant press...

In what a spokeswoman attributed to "an abundance of caution," the State Department decided late last week to close a host of American embassies in Africa and the Middle East, most of them in predominantly Muslim countries, due to concerns about...

On the plane, someone had propped a gray and black canvas tote bag against Anne Smedinghoff's flag-draped casket. As a young diplomat in Afghanistan, Anne carried the large tote everywhere. She and her colleagues at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul called the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When the Yemen-based branch of al Qaeda placed a bounty on her husband's head, Mary Feierstein learned of it from a friend who called and said, "You must be a mess!" U.S. Ambassador Gerald Feierstein was thousands of miles (km) away...

Among the personal possessions Tom Smedinghoff received after his daughter died in Afghanistan was her River Forest Public Library card.Soon, a portion of that local library will be dedicated to the life and work of Anne Smedinghoff, who in early April...

A group of people from River Forest and surrounding communities are trying to collect and donate 10,000 books to children in honor of Anne Smedinghoff, a U.S. diplomat killed in Afghanistan who called River Forest home. Susan Lucci of River Forest said...

Returning from warI saw myself in the news recently through the tragic story of Anne Smedinghoff, the young State Department diplomat who was raised in the western suburbs and killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan (News, April 12). Her fate...

On this morning as rain and hail pelt the wide streets and new grass in River Forest, I am among many who mourn the loss of a brave young woman. Today we bury Anne Smedinghoff, a young diplomat raised down the block, who was killed as she delivered...

Facing a church packed with loved ones and people he'd never met, the father of Anne Smedinghoff described the wonder he felt knowing that the little girl who asked him to stay a few steps back as she peddled Girl Scout cookies to neighbors grew up to...